


For the Love of NERDS

by FireflySong



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Humor, Public Display of Affection, Teasing, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, and would you look at those character tags!, chris and ash would be the most sickeningly sweet couple ever, gratuitous mentions of candy, hot damn!, just gotta figure out how the hell to write matt and mike and i'll actually be a ud writer!, lets be real here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:42:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26606941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireflySong/pseuds/FireflySong
Summary: When Sam agreed to join her friends for a weekend at the Washington family lodge, she didn't quite anticipate witnessing the sight on the couch in front of her. Neither, it seemed, did Emily and Jess.
Relationships: Ashley Brown/Chris Hartley
Comments: 8
Kudos: 20





	For the Love of NERDS

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what to tell you guys. The image of Chris and Ash on the couch appeared to me in my mind and I knew I had to write it out from the perspective of someone who would _really_ rather not see this. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

"Oh my god. Can you seriously believe them?"

"I know, right? It's like, we get it. You two are dating. You don't have to go rubbing it in everyone's faces."

"Exactly. They are _so_ gross."

"Uh huh. You think they're actually trying to suck each other's faces off?"

From where she was putting away some of her cereal into one of the cupboards in the lodge's kitchen, Sam paused curiously. The conversation itself wasn't all that unusual to be honest. It was one that Jess and Em liked to have constantly about the other and whoever their newest flame was. It was meant in good fun... for the most part. They claimed it acted as more of a hazing to see if the other party could withstand the jabs and asides of their significant other's best friend. And, according to them, it worked. Weeding out the weaker and spineless of them before things got to far.

What was unusual though, was that both of them were having it _together_. That _never_ happened. So, leaving the grocery bag of vegan friendly breakfast foods behind, Sam walked from the kitchen into the spacious main room of the lodge where Jess and Em stood by the entrance.

"Hey guys. Everything good out here?"

Emily turned to look at her, her hand on her cocked hip while she used the other to brush some hair out of her face. Jess, meanwhile, just gave a bright smile and a "Oh, hey Sam!". Em rolled her eyes. "Everything's fine. Except for, you know, the nerds defiling the couch that we are all going to be sitting on this weekend."

Getting closer to the two girls, Sam was finally able to see who it was they were talking about and was not surprised in the least to see Chris and Ash sitting on the sectional together. True, they were definitely sitting way closer then they needed to be considering how much room they had, but there was certainly no kissing going on.

"I think you guys may have been exaggerating some. I clearly remember overhearing something about 'sucking each other's faces off' and that doesn't look a whole lot like they're defiling the couch to me."

Em rolled her eyes again, this time harder and accompanied by a disgusted scoff. "Just give it time. With the way those two are looking at each other, I can promise you that we won't have to wait long."

Ignoring her, Jess gasped as though shocked at Sam's admittance, but the conspiratorial smile on her face showed exactly how little she cared otherwise. "Sam!? Were you eavesdropping on us? I didn't know that you had it in you."

Sam let out a breath that may have been a laugh. "I mean, you two weren't exactly being quiet, it was kind of hard not to, honestly. Don't know how those two over there didn't hear you."

"Oh please," Em scoffed, "those two are so stuck inside their own little world that I'm pretty sure that the entire lodge could explode and they wouldn't notice."

That, Sam couldn't disagree with, so she didn't even try to. It was pretty clear that Chris and Ashley had no idea that the three of them were even in the room. Both of them were sitting in a way that left no space between them, their foreheads pressed firmly together and soft smiles on their faces. She could make out one of Ash's hands resting on the back of Chris's neck and his hand, meanwhile, was in the middle of tucking a stray strand of her hair back behind her ear. With that done, he slowly let his finger trail over the shell of her ear before he returned it to what Sam assumed to be it's original position, cupping Ash's cheek and blocking her smile from everyone's view but his own, thumb moving slowly back and forth over her cheekbone. She wasn't able to make out where their other hands were, what with the back of the sectional facing her, but Sam had a feeling that they were most likely holding hands, or something equally as sappy. Neither of their mouths were moving, the two of them were just sitting there so wrapped up in each other that even at this distance, it was hard to mistake the absolute love and adoration in their eyes as they just stared at each other for anything else.

That being said, there was no way that they two of them would have been sitting like that if they had known they had an audience. Sure they two of them were definitely the definition of a touchy-feely couple when it came down to it; fingers tangled together at near-constant intervals, feet always resting against the other's from underneath a table, a hand brushing their shoulders or lower back when passing by, but never like this. _Never_ in public. This was them at their most private and unguarded.

"I mean, there's like a million bedrooms in this place. Couldn't they be doing this where we don't have to see it?"

Jess gave a giggle. "Oooh. And they would get some privacy to boot. Really take advantage of those million beds I bet."

To Sam's bemusement, but not Jessica's she noticed, Emily actually gave a small, short snort. "You think those two would even know what to do in a room like that? Alone? A room with a _bed_ no less? They would probably combust on the spot. I mean, look at them!" She gestured towards Chris and Ash on the couch, who still hadn't noticed the three of them. "They are quite honestly the definition of nerdy virgins. People who regularly have sex don't look at each other like _that_."

Jess nodded in agreement. "Mmm hmm. I bet they're so nervous and scared that they haven't even made it to second base yet. And they've been going out for how long now?"

"Are we counting the actual, literal _years_ they spent mooning over each other?"

Sam considered for a moment on revealing that she had it on _very_ good authority that the two of them likely did, in fact, know exactly what to do with a bed, but decided against it. She didn't want to know what Em and Jess did with the knowledge that they were _probably_ only half right with their mean-spirited nickname, and they certainly didn't need any more fuel for this roast.

"Are they actually being serious right now? Oh my god."

Jess's voice broke through Sam's thoughts, and she looked from the girls to the couch to find out that she had in fact been correct in her assumption that the two of them had been holding hands. Their palms were clasped together and fingers tightly interlaced, a sight that Sam had become very well accustomed to over the past several months, and Chris had raised them so he could place a kiss to the back of Ash's hand, his eyes never once leaving hers. And if the way her eyes had absolutely lit up at the action was any indication, she was positively beaming from behind his hand. Sam watched Chris lean forward, but instead of kissing Ash as she expected, seemed to be whispering something into her ear. Anything that was being said was only for the two of them though. The angle Chris had chosen meant that he had completely hidden his face from view behind Ash's own, so even if any of them could have been able to read lips, it was an impossibility now. And with his hand cradling her cheek, it successfully hid any expression that may have shown on her face from his words as well.

Whatever sweet nothings he was whispering in her ear though, it was clearly quite something if Ashley's next reaction was any indication. The moment Chris had pulled away, the same goofy and adoring smile on his face he'd had since Sam entered the great room, Ashley's hand that had been resting loosely on the back of his neck had tightened its grasp to hold him place so _she_ could kiss _him_.

Now, Sam had always been the type to roll her eyes when ever she'd read a book and the author had deigned to describe two people as melting into each other when they kissed. Butter melted in a hot pan, candy could melt and cover her hands if she didn't eat it fast enough, and the ice and snow outside the lodge would melt down to turn the mountain a lively and vibrant green in another couple of months. But people? No, people couldn't _melt_ , it was an overly romantic expression that she had always hated ever since she had been a kid. That being said, Chris was doing his damnedest to prove her wrong right now.

There was no other way to describe the way that any tension in Chris's body just _melted_ off of him the moment Ashley's lips had touched his. In an instant, his entire body had sunk in on itself in an effort to draw himself closer to her, his eyes closing as they kissed sweetly in front of Sam and the others. So much as Sam hated to admit it, the moment that Chris and Ash had kissed, they had absolutely melted into each other. But before she could start worrying that _maybe_ Emily had had a point about the two of them defiling the couch, it was already over. In a blink the two of them were back into their original positions, foreheads pressed firmly together, wide adoring smiles on their faces, and she didn't think it would have been possible, but somehow the amount of absolute love shining in their eyes had _tripled._

Behind her, Emily and Jess gagged at the scene of the two nerds in front of them, and Sam couldn't help finding herself agreeing with them. The scene had been so unbearably sweet that it had circled back around to being nauseating. They reminded her too much of candy she had eaten as a kid, a hundred percent sugar and so sweet that it had made her sick. Sam thought to herself a little amused that maybe that was why they two of them had been able to melt together when they kissed. They weren't people, but human-sized piles of pure sugar and artificial colouring.

She made a mental note to buy the two of them a box of Nerds candy at a gas station when they left.

"Where the hell is their baby-sitter? Sam?"

She turned with upturned eyebrows to Emily, who was glaring at her and refusing to look at Chris and Ashley sighing happily on the couch together. "I'm sorry, who?"

She groaned, as though the idea of even saying the name of the person in question was too much for her. "You know, Josh, the missing number to their usual trio. The only other nerd in this god forsaken lodge."

"And why should I know that?"

This time it was Jess who answered, looking at Sam as though the answer should have been obvious from the start. "Um, because _you're_ best friends with his sisters, duh."

"...I still don't see why that means I should know his whereabouts right now."

Emily seemed ready with a retort, though whatever it may have been Sam would never know, watching as her face instead gave what she would have once assumed to be an impossible combination of relief and dread. "Well, speak of the devil and he does appear, I suppose."

A second later, and it was a literal second she's pretty sure, there's a heavy weight across the back of her shoulders that would have sent her to the floor had she not braced herself. She's not sure which to thank for the quick recovery though, her body's strength from her rock climbing expeditions and usual morning jogs, or just the fact that Josh does this enough that she's probably able to do it in her sleep at this point.

"Ah ha! I thought my ears were starting to burn for a little bit back there." Josh looks down at Sam, who is in the frantic process of trying to escape from under his arm. "So, tell me, Sammy, what's the 411? What interesting deets do you and the two gossip mongers have for me? I promise, all secrets are safe with me." He makes an 'x' over his heart, and Sam can only roll her eyes in amused exasperation as she finally manages to shove him off of her, fixing her hair where he had ruffled it with his arm.

"Sorry to say, but I wasn't the one looking for you. That would have been these two actually."

Josh eyebrows are raised in extremely over-acted surprise, arms out wide as he turns to give his full, undivided attention to Emily and Jessica. His wide smile does not waver even in the face of the completely unimpressed looks that the two of them are giving him, though that might have something to do with the hint of amusement that Jess wasn't quite able to mask. "Oh ho! Now this _is_ a surprise! Well, what can I do for you two lovely ladies then?"

"Did you think we were just going to ignore the fact that you just called us 'gossip mongers'?"

"I think you misheard me. Pretty sure I actually called you 'Hot Topic monsters'."

"Wow. I don't know how you managed it, but that's even _worse_."

Josh shrugs. "What can I say, it's a gift."

"Yeah, well can you use some of your so-called 'gifts' to break that up over there?" Jess gestures over Josh's shoulder to Chris and Ashley on the couch, who, lord help them all, have both started giggling helplessly due to the fact that at some point during Josh's arrival they had started to rub their noses together in an extremely awkward and miserable to watch version of a puppy kiss.

To his credit, while Josh gives a long-suffering sigh and shake of the head, he doesn't try to hide his bemused smile. "Oh trust me, that's not a gift. This just requires a specially acquired skill-set. Watch and learn girlies." He turns around to face the couch and, as though prepping for a particularly challenging obstacle course, starts to shake out his arms and crack his neck by tilting it side to side. "I leave the two of them alone for five goddamn minutes..." Sam hears him murmur tiredly under his breath, before he raises his voice into a shout that echoes around the great room. "Oy! Lovebirds! Incoming!"

That's all the warning he gives before Sam watches with Emily and Jess as Josh takes off running towards the couch. She quickly understands why he felt the need for the warmup and the running start, when he places his hand on the back of the sectional and hops over it to land awkwardly in the middle of Chris and Ashley who had thrust themselves apart at his sudden shout.

"Josh?! What are you—"

"Bro, what the fu—?!"

Their own confused shouts are shut down when Josh places his arms around their necks to bring them closer to him in a friendly, if not tight, chokehold. "I swear to god, I can't leave the two of you alone for five minutes before I have to go and save someone's sorry butt."

"What do you mean save? We've been sitting here on the couch the entire time!" Ash says as she tries fruitlessly to escape from Josh's tight grip around her neck.

"Oh, I wasn't taking about you two for once. Shocking, I know." he adds, apparently deciding to interpret the unimpressed looks on their faces as disbelief. "I was actually talking about your audience."

Both Chris and Ash turn to look over the their shoulders confused. Sam likes to think she's at least nice enough to avert her eyes and look away, unlike Emily who just glowers at them in thinly veiled disgust and embarrassment, while, for her part, Jess gives a cheeky little wave. Immediately, both of their faces turn red in horror and soul-crushing humiliation, and they begin to try and sink lower into the couch cushions to escape. Unfortunately for them, with Josh's arms locked firmly around their necks to keep them right where they are, all they can manage is a slight slump so they elect to cover their burning faces instead.

"I mean, I've seen you two put on a show before. Not something normal mortals can withstand seeing let me tell you."

"Once," Chris weakly protests from behind his hands. "You walked in on us kissing _once_."

Josh only gives a loud scoff, and though Sam can't see a thing from behind the couch, she intrinsically knows that he's rolling his eyes hard. "Oh, you were doing a hell of a lot more than just kissing."

"We weren't—."

"Neither of you were wearing _shirts_ , Cochise! I've seen more of your skin then I ever planned on seeing, and the three of us have been swimming together for _years_."

"It was just hot that day!"

"Oh, things were definitely heating up, but it certainly wasn't the temperature in your bedroom."

There's a loud choke next to Sam, and she looks to see Jess staring at the three of them on the couch with unabashed _glee_ on her face. "Oh, no _way_. Are you telling me that you two have actually—?"

"Can we please stop talking about this?" Ashley squeaks out as she tries to pull her beanie down to cover her burning face. "Can we please, _please_ stop talking about this."

"What, stop talking about how I walked in on you two about to have se—?"

Both Chris and Ashley were quick to let out a strangled "Josh!". Though whether it sounded that way from embarrassment or from being literally strangled right now, was a mystery.

Sam decides to take sympathy towards the two very embarrassed and very traumatized nerds on the couch anyways, and starts to push Emily and Jess towards the kitchen. "Come on you two, I need some help putting away all the groceries we bought. I don't whose bright idea it was to buy fifteen boxes of popcorn, but that's something we all have to deal with now."

Even as she's forcefully pushing them towards the kitchen, Jess turns her head to look back. "Oh no, I have _got_ to hear this story. I mean, can you imagine how awkward everything must have been? Especially with their best friend walking in just as things are about to get good?"

Emily makes a sound as though she's about to retch. "Oh hell no. I'm already imagining enough, thank you very much. I for one, do _not_ need to hear any more of what those nerds get up to in a bedroom together."

As Sam sighs tiredly, she looks back over her should towards the couch and at the sight of Josh continuing to ramble nonsensically in the middle of his best friends, steadfastly ignoring the way the two of them are trying their hardest to become one with the couch. She will definitely have to buy them a box of Nerds when she next gets the chance.

And she has a feeling that Josh would greatly appreciate the joke, if nothing else.


End file.
